The RMT has announced eight 24-hour London Underground strikes between November 2026 and February 2027 in a dispute over working patterns, despite Transport for London offering drivers the option of keeping a five-day week at their existing depot.

The disagreement centres on proposals involving a four-day week, but the union says its objections extend beyond the number of days worked. It alleges that management wants longer, less predictable shifts, more time driving trains and the surrender of longstanding agreements.

RMT general secretary Eddie Dempsey said: “This is not about improving work-life balance. It is about squeezing more work out of fewer drivers while giving management greater flexibility at the expense of our members.”

TfL has urged the union to put its latest proposals to members. Nick Dent, London Underground’s director of customer operations, said: “Drivers can now choose to remain on a five-day week with a guarantee of remaining at the same depot.” He described this as a meaningful choice that would not require drivers to change where they work.

That guarantee addresses working days and location; the union’s stated concerns also involve the length, predictability and intensity of shifts. The two positions therefore concern overlapping, but distinct, aspects of the proposed arrangements.

The strikes are scheduled for Thursday 26 November, Thursday 17 December and Saturday 19 December 2026; Monday 4 January, Wednesday 6 January, Wednesday 17 February, Tuesday 23 February and Thursday 25 February 2027. They follow earlier walkouts.

Politicians have warned of disruption to commuters and to shops, restaurants, pubs and theatres during the Christmas trading period and into the new year.

Shadow London minister Gareth Bacon, the Orpington MP, called the strikes “pointless” and their reasons “totally spurious”. He argued that concessions by the Labour government and London’s mayor encouraged further union demands, leaving fare-paying Londoners to bear the consequences.

Reform UK’s London mayoral candidate, Laila Cunningham, accused the union of holding the city to ransom and called for Tube modernisation and automation.

Liberal Democrat London spokesman Luke Taylor, MP for Sutton and Cheam, acknowledged Tube staff’s hard work but warned that eight strike days would be a “hammer blow” for small businesses, hospitality venues and commuters. The immediate unresolved issue is whether TfL’s offer can address the union’s wider objections to how drivers’ shifts would operate.